Sterile Recoveries, formed in 1991 to process reusable surgical
products for the operating suite, has grown its annual revenues
from $32 million in 1996, when the firm went public, to $52 million
last year. "Analysts have us on a $70-million pace for 1999,"
says Bert Martin Jr., the firm's president. "Where we are so far,
that's pretty much on track."
As revenues have increased, the company has expanded its market
to include 425 hospitals across the nation. It has 10 regional
plants for the distribution of products. "Our plant in Orlando
was closed to move to Plant City, which had the availability of
space and a high-quality work force," Martin says. "Quite frankly,
we would rank [the work force in Plant City] among the top work
forces we've found around the country from the standpoint of work
ethic."
Twenty employees are staffing the Plant City operation, which
"assembles complementary disposable products for delivery to the
surgical suite," says Martin. And although the firm still focuses
mainly on reusables - such as gowns, towels, drapes, basins and
instruments - disposables are playing an ever-increasing role
in its marketing strategy.
"The percent of disposables is growing," Martin says. "We still
make as much reusable as possible. The waste factor we eliminate
out of the hospital is significant. We take 70 percent of bulk
waste out of a surgical procedure, and that adds up to millions
of pounds that don't go into landfills. This makes the most economic
sense."
Growth at Walden Woods
Joining Sterile Recoveries as new corporate neighbors in Walden
Woods Business Center this year are food supplier A. Camacho Inc.
and Dukes Chiropractic Center, which recently bought a three-acre
lot for a new medical office. ATCO Rubber Products Inc., based
in Fort Worth, Texas, has recently closed on 10 acres and plans
to build a new 100,000-square-foot facility in which to manufacture
products such as rubber seals for windows. The firm is currently
operating in a 20,000-square-foot building at Plant City Industrial
Park.
A. Camacho Inc. moved from Tampa into its new $1.5-million,
35,000- square-foot distribution center at Walden Woods Business
Center early in the year. The food supplier specializes in the
distribution of Spanish olives to grocers and restaurants. Their
$30 million in annual revenues come from accounts such as Publix
Super Markets Inc., Food Lion Inc., and Albertsons Inc., which
also have distribution centers along the I-4 corridor. The firm,
based in Spain, also has U.S. facilities in Erlanger, Ky. and
Chicago, serving the bulk of its customers east of the Mississippi
River. Their next expansion is a distribution center in Reno,
Nev., for serving the Western U.S. market. In addition to its
olives grown within a 50-mile diameter of Seville, Spain, the
firm also distributes olive oil, Greek olives and peppers, capers,
cocktail onions, preserves, barbecue sauce and cheeses.
"A lot of our customers pick up merchandise, and we needed a
convenient location," says Merle Hanneken, the firm's executive
vice president of U.S. Operations. "Albertsons and Food Lion have
distribution warehouses here [in Plant City] and Publix is just
nine or 10 miles down the road.
"This community was attractive to us," Hanneken adds. "We got
an inquiry from Walden Woods. Their property was ideal and their
price very, very competitive. Permits and SWFTMD [Southwest Florida
Water Management District] approvals were already in place. That
made it much quicker and less expensive to move into this facility,
rather than buying acreage out some place and starting from square
one." While the Walden Woods Business Center has enjoyed an influx
of businesses, it did take one hit this year. Republic Industries
had opened a $5- million automobile reconditioning center in 1997
that brought more than 100 jobs to Plant City. But the Fort Lauderdale-based
company, mired in financial troubles, closed down the facility.
What's in the tank?
Also recently testing Plant City's permitting process, American
Tank & Equipment Company is expanding from a 5,000-square-foot
facility into a new 13,500-square-foot building. The 19- employee
firm, which started distributing polyethylene tanks to industrial
chemical users and agricultural establishments in 1996, finds
itself a natural fit for Plant City's agrarian community.
"The city has been very good to us," says Dallas Owens, the
firm's co- owner. "Their support has been tremendous and as the
strawberry capital of the world, it's an easy fit for an agricultural
business to be in Plant City. The agricultural market is our largest
focus right now."
Another factor in the location of the firm is proximity to a
vast transportation network. "I chose Plant City because I liked
the geographic location and the abundant industry already here,"
Owens says. "Tampa's growth is moving east and Orlando seems to
be moving west. Plant City is in the middle of all this. It's
close to I-4, I-75, U.S. Highway 60, U.S. Highway 27, easy routes
to get product to our customers no matter where they are in the
state."
Annual revenues at American Tank are "tracking at $2.7 million,"
says Owens. "By the end of 2000 we'll have 27 employees and over
$3 million in annual revenues. This is tremendous growth for us."
Another Plant City firm tracking excellent revenue growth is
The Hay Exchange, which distributes baled hay to independently
owned feed stores throughout the Southeast and the Caribbean.
Currently operating in a 6,000-square-foot facility, the 10-employee
firm plans on occupying its new 24,500-sf distribution center
by the end of the first quarter 2000.
Bill Glisson, the firm's president, says he imports hay from
"all over North America, Alberta, Canada and Ontario. Florida
is a forage-deficient state and as Florida continues to grow,
typical grazing land is evaporating and horse owners are dependent
on buying baled forage."
Glisson expects to add another five employees when the new facility
opens and to double his staff within 18 months. "Our growth is
due to needs in the market place," he says. "We're the only company
that brings hay in, palletizes it and redelivers on pallets to
minimize the work of retailers. In some cases, my customers no
longer manually unload hay, which reduces costs of labor and insurance."
Another successful strategy for Glisson's firm is the "drop trailer
program, where we load hay into our semi trailers and drop off
the trailer, providing storage for retailers," he says. "I leave
the trailer on the premises and they sell out of it. I had two
when we opened and have over 40 now. I have a waiting list for
this program."
Glisson uses 28-foot "pup" trailers instead of standard 53-foot
trailers. "We use those because they hold half as much hay, which
the retailer can turn a lot faster," he says. "It benefits all
of us. I turn my equipment over, there's fresher product for customers
and retailers are laying out less capital."
The laying out of capital at Plant City Commerce Center has led
to development of a 100,000-square-foot speculative distribution
and manufacturing warehouse at County Line Road just south of
I-4. "We have two prospects for half the building," says Bill
Loftin of Loftin Real Estate, the developer of the project. "It's
a dock-high building of tilt-wall construction with fiber optics."
Two hundred forty-five acres at the business park are zoned
for two million square feet of industrial buildings. The first
90,000-square-foot building was bought by Fabwel, "a company out
of Indiana that came in two years ago," Loftin says.
Between the airports
The business park has rail service and is a "great place to be,
between two major airports," says Loftin. "We have plenty of capacity
for sewer and water. We have an interlocal agreement between Lakeland
and Plant City for water in event that either side of County Line
Road suddenly needs greater capacity. They just turn a valve and
both cities contribute water. That's for a big fire or something
like that." Ten acres have been allocated for Class A office buildings.
"We have park restrictions for tilt wall or concrete construction,"
he adds. "And there will be no outside storage areas littering
the aesthetics of the park. This will be a very clean environment."
Another industrial property, the Plant City Steel building, has
cleaned up its act after closing in the mid Ô90s. Capital Resource
Group, a Naples-based investment firm, purchased the building
last year, and CSR Rinker became the anchor tenant occupying 56,788
square feet. This year Mid-Cities Fabrication occupied 42,351
square feet, leaving a vacancy of 65,000 square feet of industrial
space and an 18,400-square-foot freestanding office building.
"The original idea was to tear it down and redevelop into something
else," says Miller. "We have instead been able to find tenants
to use the building. There's a lot of history in the place and
the owners are glad to put it back into productive use. It's not
going to win awards in Architectural Digest, but it's a good,
functional facility."
Recycling the ball park
Another facility in Plant City was nearly torn down but instead
is being returned to good, functional use. The Plant City baseball
stadium, which has been mostly idle since the Cincinnati Reds
relocated their spring training camp a few years ago, was a candidate
for demolition until the International Softball Federation, currently
based in Oklahoma City, selected it as its new headquarters. The
6,700-seat stadium will be converted for softball, and it will
be used year round by its 112 member nations.
In addition to softball games, the federation plans to open
a hall of fame, and Olympic training center for players in Central,
South and North America and a training facility for umpires, coaches
and administrators.
"This stadium is an incredible asset sitting in eastern Hillsborough
County," says Randy Larson, former mayor and chairman of the committee
that is facilitating the relocation of the federation. "The Women's
Professional Softball League played their All-Star game there
last summer. ESPN2 carried it and gave a lot of commentary on
Hillsborough County and the International Softball Federation."
The federation plans to occupy its new headquarters early next
year. "We hope to have everything ready to go in January," says
Don Porter, the federation's president. "Several employees will
relocate from Oklahoma City and we'll hire additional staff once
we get there.
"We're looking forward to a good relationship with the city
and working with them to bring as many events and activities as
we can to that facility," he adds. "The Plant City officials are
very positive and have been very helpful over all."
While Plant City Stadium is being fixed up for the federation,
downtown has been sprucing up as well. The old city hall is being
torn down and that block will serve as parking for the new 40,000-square-foot,
$5.2-million city hall across the street. That's just one project
of several by the city this year.
"The city has spent $1.2 million on McCall Park and parking downtown,"
says Mike Sparkman, the city's vice mayor and chairman of the
Community Redevelopment Agency.
"We've received a $100,000 grant from the Department of Transportation
for renovations to convert the former train depot into a welcome
center. Sidewalks are being redone, and some of the old red brick
streets are being restored. We have a great team here with a lot
of people who are working together to get things done."
One example of that teamwork on a special kind of construction
project put the city in the Guinness Book of World Records. "We
utilized the street by McCall Park this past summer to construct
the world's largest strawberry shortcake," Sparkman says.
Miller, of Colliers Arnold, agrees with Sparkman. "There's a
lot of cooperation between local government and private industry,"
he says. "People know each other. It's a distinctive community
and has been around as long as Tampa. H. B. Plant brought rail
to Tampa and lent his name to Plant City. They have an identity,
a sense of place and quality of life."
